Yujiulü Chounu (;

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

: Yùjiǔlǘ Chǒunú) (?–520) was ruler of the

Rouran The Rouran Khaganate, also Juan-Juan Khaganate (), was a tribal confederation and later state founded by a people of Proto-Mongolic Donghu origin.*Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (2000)"Ji 姬 and Jiang 姜: The Role of Exogamic Clans in the Organizati ...

(508–520) with the title of Douluofubadoufa Khagan (豆羅伏跋豆伐可汗).

Reign

He was firstborn son of

Yujiulü Futu Yujiulü Futu (; pinyin: Yùjiǔlǘ Fútú ) (died 508) was khagan of the Rouran (506–508) with the title of Tuohan Khagan (佗汗可汗) or Tahan Khagan (他汗可汗). He was the first son of Yujiulü Nagai. Reign In 506, he succeeded his fa ...

and he succeeded his father when he was killed in a battle against

Gaoche The Tiele (, Mongolian ''*Tegreg'' " eople of theCarts"), also transliterated as Dili (), Chile (), Zhile (), Tele (), also named Gaoche or Gaoju (, "High Carts"), were a tribal confederation of Turkic ethnic origins living to the north of Chin ...

. This was when

Gaochang Gaochang (; Old Uyghur: ''Qocho''), also called Khocho, Karakhoja, Qara-hoja, Kara-Khoja or Karahoja (قاراغوجا in Uyghur), was a ruined, ancient oasis city on the northern rim of the inhospitable Taklamakan Desert in present-day Xinj ...

king Qu Jia (麴嘉) rebelled against Rouran and resubmitted to Gaoche. In the summer of 510 he sent the Wei court to the Buddhist monk Hong Xuan (洪宣), who presented the

Emperor Xuanwu Emperor Xuanwu of Northern Wei (May or June 483 – February 12, 515) was an emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Wei dynasty (499-515). He was born Tuoba Ke, but later changed his surname so that he became Yuan Ke. During Xuanwu's reign, N ...

with a statue inlaid with pearls. As an answer, Xuanwu decided to send general Ma Yishu (馬義舒) as an envoy in 514, however Xuanwu died soon after decision, therefore embassy was cancelled. This time Chounu switched sides and sent his envoy Qijin Bijian (俟斤比建) to

Liang Dynasty The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was preceded by the South ...

same year. In 516, he marched on Gaoche in order to avenge his father. This campaign was a success, Gaoche leader Mietu was arrested and in reprisal towed to death by a horse. Moved by his success, he immediately sent his envoys Qijin Bijian, Hexi Wuiliba and Gong Guli (鞏顧礼) to neighboring

Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei (), Tuoba Wei (), Yuan Wei () and Later Wei (), was founded by the Tuoba (Tabgach) clan of the Xianbei. The first of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties, Northern dynasties ...

and Liang with gifts. Another tribute composed of 700 slaves was sent to Wei court in 519.

Family life and death

Soon, Chounu began having problems in family life. His infant brother Zuhui disappeared from the headquarters and no one could find him. Khagan was very worried. The twenty-year-old shamaness Dauhun Diwan appeared, who announced that Zuhui was taken alive by spirits to heaven and can be returned. Khagan ordered a seven-day prayer service and, unexpectedly, Zuhui ran into his yurt and said that he had been living in heaven for a year. Chounu was happy and ordered Diwan to divorce her husband Fusheng (he was given 3,000 horses and bulls) and made her his wife. Soon Chounu fell in love with her and ceased to deal with management affairs. When Zuhui grew up, Dowager Khatun Hou Luling (侯呂陵) found out that the story of heaven was invented by Diwan, and Zuhui lived in her yurt for all these days. Chouni did not believe this and soon Divan persuaded him to execute Zuhui. While Dowager Khatun Houluilin ordered his servants to strangle Dawhun Diwan. Moreover, unexpectedly, the

attacked and defeated the Rourans. Chounu decided to return to the headquarters and execute the murderers of his wife, but on the orders of the his mother Chounu was executed by the princes as well, who put his younger brother Anagui on the throne in 520.

References

Sources

*''

History of the Northern Dynasties The ''History of the Northern Dynasties'' () is one of the official Chinese historical works in the ''Twenty-Four Histories'' canon. The text contains 100 volumes and covers the period from 386 to 618, the histories of Northern Wei, Western We ...

'', vol. 86. *''

Book of Wei The ''Book of Wei'', also known by its Chinese name as the ''Wei Shu'', is a classic Chinese historical text compiled by Wei Shou from 551 to 554, and is an important text describing the history of the Northern Wei and Eastern Wei from 386 to 5 ...

'', vol. 103 Khagans of the Rouran {{Rouran rulers